In 10 Words or Less
Post-college ennui as it's never not been done before

Reviewer's Bias*Loves: Good comediesLikes: Most of the movies that probably inspired this movie, gratuitous nudityDislikes: Drug humorHates: Wholly unbalanced films

The Movie
Once upon a time, there was something called Generation X, a handy marketing label slapped upon a group of young adults struggling with the transition from their teen years to adulthood. It conveyed upon these drifters a sense of belonging to a larger social condition, and even a sense of mystery, as the world faced the end of a millennium in the midst of a relatively booming economy.

Today, with a much less rosey social and financial global forecast in their future, this caste of youngsters are now basement dwellers and debt addicts, whose self-discovery is done via emo music and navel-gazing films, all without the benefit of a cool name. These are the stars of Delivery Boy Chronicles. A group of food deliverers (not pizza boys, thank you very much), they are slackers and shmucks, telling themselves that they are just doing this menial labor until something better comes along, whether that takes months or years. If that sound familiar, it's because it's been done many times before, in films like Clerks or Waiting or even Career Opportunities.

In this version, our anti-heroes are more or less led by Tig (singer Shawn Mullins), a drug-using punk with aspirations toward being the biggest 'shrooms dealer in Atlanta. As the veteran of the group, he's seen it all and has little time to repeat the experience, since he's busy getting stoned. His pals in the service, including resident nerd Magoo, business degree-holder Mike and hippie-chick Molly, all have higher goals in mind, leaving them all less than happy about their place in life. So, as is oft the case in films, they band together to overcome the odds via a scheme that can only work if everything falls just right...which you just know won't happen when we reach that climactic moment.

If the film was as straightforward as that, it might not have been half-bad, but like awful parody compilations like Date Movie and Epic Movie, this one feels like the result of a late-night session of "You remember in that movie, when they did that thing? We should totally do that!" So you end up with a musical take-off of Willy Wonka, a guy in a camel suit, the world's smallest awareness rally, a stripper with violently large breasts, a kidnapped spiritual leader, a Scooby-Doo like chase, a tuxedo-equipped gang of toughs, and a crazy landscaper, all mixed into the main storyline like so many M&Ms of silliness in a cinematic Frosty. Unfortunately, these diversions, which are visually engaging, end up overshadowing the rest of the film, making the storyline pale in interest and harder to follow.

Perhaps with a more complete cast, it could have worked, but outside of Mullins, who is a natural as a scummy stoner, and Ray Stoney, who unsurprisingly has a longer filmography that almost everyone in the film combined, the actors don't rise above the material. That's especially true for Chet Dixon, who channels Dustin Diamond and Matt Doherty (Averman from The Mighty Ducks) in crafting his dweeb vision of Magoo, and Kelly Hobbs, whose performance as Molly stands out like a sore thumb, as she goes for naive and hits high-school drama instead, with her stiff line readings and exaggerated facial expressions.

The DVD
We can't review the packaging, as we received a simple screener, but the DVD features a mostly static full-frame menu with options to watch the film, select scenes, and check out special features. There are no audio options, no subtitles and no closed captioning.

The Quality
The film is presented in letterboxed widescreen, which is a major strike against it, but otherwise, this move looks beautiful. Everything about it just pops off the screen, including the colors, the clarity of the vision and the level of fine detail. If this DVD had been anamorphic widescreen, it could have been the best I've seen from a non-major studio, as there was no evidence of any dirt or damage and no digital artifacts to be seen. A great job, all things considered.

The audio is less impressive, coming in as a Dolby Digital 2.0 track that keeps everything pretty much front and center, with no noticeable separation between the channels. Everything is clean and crisp, but it's your standard dialogue-driven indie comedy mix.

The Extras
Seven deleted scenes/outtakes kick things off, which can be viewed separately or all together in one nearly eight-minute chunk. Nothing here is any better than what's in the film, though there's some fleshing out of some of the less illuminated story points. Plus, if you enjoyed the busty strippers, you can watch it here on its own. It's followed by almost three minutes of a blooper montage that's mildly amusing thanks to the usual dialogue flubs and screwing around.

The extras end with a trailer for this film and a few other Reel Indies offerings.

The Bottom LineDelivery Boy Chronicles is the kind of movie you used to run into on HBO at two in the morning, armed with a stupid plot and a few pairs of breasts to get you through the night. Here on DVD, it's a bit out of its element and veers into the territory of "so stupid it's just freaking stupid." The DVD looks amazing and sounds good enough for a film of its breed, though you could take or leave the extras. There are many better movies out there to enjoy, but there are many worse as well. Feint praise, sure, but it is what it is.

Francis Rizzo III is a native Long Islander, where he works in academia. In his spare time, he enjoys watching hockey, writing and spending time with his wife, daughter and puppy.

*The Reviewer's Bias section is an attempt to help readers use the review to its best effect. By knowing where the reviewer's biases lie on the film's subject matter, one can read the review with the right mindset.